Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 8 (Celebrity Edition 2), Episode 1 – “I’m not here to be graceful. I’m here to win.”

The 8th season of The Amazing Race Australia begins with a second brand new group of celebrities and their loved ones including Olympic legend Ian Thorpe and best mate Christian, AFL icon Billy Brownless and son Oscar, Matildas teammates Chloe & Emily, UFC champion Bam Bam and brother Logan, comedian Pete Helliar and wife Bridget, Ironman Jett Kenny and partner Lily, Married at First Sight/Love Island alums Cyrell & Eden, singer and actress Nat Bass and sister Mel, DJ Havana Brown and best friend Steph, country music royalty Brooke McClymount and Adam Eckersley, actor Luke McGregor and mum Julie.

The teams fly to Argentina to reach the Starting Line at Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. Beau welcomes all the teams and then flags them off. They run to their backpacks and open the first clue directing them to catch a taxi from the Obelisco de Buenos Aires to Gomero de la Recoleta and search for Atlas holding up the oldest tree in the city.

The waiting clue tells teams to locate the marked cuatro paseadores de perros (dog walkers) and count all their friends. Once they give the judge the correct number (35), they will receive the next clue.

Chloe & Emily have no idea what to look for, so they just watch Thorpie & Christian who know they must count the dogs and follow what they’re doing. Cyrell & Eden are close behind in 3rd. The other teams arrive in the order: Nat & Mel, Bam Bam & Logan, Billy & Oscar, Luke & Julie, Jett & Lily, Pete & Bridget, Havana & Steph and Brooke & Adam.

Thorpie & Christian give a guess first, but it’s wrong. That allows Nat & Mel and Chloe & Emily to be the first teams to correctly relay the number and receive the clue.

That clue reveals the Detour: National Dance or National Sandwich. In National Dance, teams must learn and perform the tango. In National Sandwich, teams must fill 24 orders of choripan.

Nat & Mel choose dancing while Chloe & Emily, Thorpie & Christian and Jett & Lily take on the sandwiches. Bam Bam & Logan choose dancing. Pete & Bridget, Billy & Oscar choose the sandwich while Brooke & Adam choose dancing. Luke & Julie choose dance while Cyrell & Adam choose sandwich.

At the tango, both Chloe & Emily and Bam Bam & Logan fail their first attempts. Brooke & Adam also fail their first attempt.

At the grill park, Thorpie & Christian, Jett & Lily and Chloe & Emily’s first sandwiches get the thumbs down. Thorpie & Christian fix their sandwiches and get them approved as do Chloe & Emily and Jett & Lily.

Havana & Steph are first to get the thumbs up on their tango while Nat & Mel get it on their 2nd attempt and Brooke & Adam on their 6th. Pete & Bridget and Billy & Oscar get their sandwiches approved on their first attempts.

Bam Bam & Logan finally get their tango approved on their 3rd attempt. Luke & Julie, who are struggling with the lifts, choose to take a penalty which is 30 minutes for this task. Cyrell & Eden are last out of the Detour with their sandwiches on their 3rd attempt.

After the Detour, teams must head to La Boca and learn a chant of the Boca Juniors Football team. They will then search the area for a fan who will teach them the chant and then perform it for the judge.

Chloe & Emily get the thumbs up after their fourth chant attempt. Thorpie & Christian also need a few attempts and are right behind them. Both teams can now head to the Pit Stop at Centro Cultural Kirchner.

Chloe & Emily arrive at the Mat first and Beau officially checks them in as Team #1. They win a luxury hotel upgrade for the Pit Stop. Thorpie & Christian step on the Mat as Team #2.

All the teams are now at La Boca. Brooke & Adam and Jett & Lily are the next to get the thumbs up on their chants followed by Billy & Oscar, Havana & Steph, Nat & Mel, Pete & Bridget and Luke & Julie. Bam Bam & Logan finally get the thumbs up after their 4th attempt. Eden and an emotional Cyrell finally get it after their 5th attempt.

At the Pit Stop, Jett & Lily arrive before Brooke & Adam to finish as Teams 3 and 4. Havana & Steph, Billy & Oscar and Nat & Mel finish as Teams 5 through 7, respectively.

Luke & Julie arrive in 8th at the Pit Stop, but still have to serve out their penalty. That allows Pete & Bridget to check-in as Team #8. Bam Bam & Logan arrive to check-in as Team #9.

The timer shows three more minutes on the penalty. And Cyrell & Eden arrives to check-in as Team #10.

That means mother and son Julie & Luke are last and the first team eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Yay! The current best TAR franchise in the world is back! And yes, after all these years, I can’t believe I’m saying the Network 10 iteration of The Amazing Race Australia is the best current TAR version in the world.

TARAu7 really just energized and essentially yanked the Australian franchise off of its deathbed. And in such fun and exciting fashion last year. So I was really looking forward to and have high expectations for this season.

So far, this first episode makes me very hopeful that TARAu can continue the strong momentum they started last year.

A meh Leg, but good teams and good competition. That’s really as good as you can hope for with contemporary TAR. Especially from a franchise and network that has tried and failed with some aspects of TAR in recent years.

I think this Leg needed one more task. And there probably was one other task that got edited out again, as Network 10 TARAu is one to do. They certainly had to stretch out the Detour and then the football chants a few minutes longer than they really needed to. But that’s alright.

Starting with the first task, it was okay. I liked the mini-language aspect of the task with teams needing to figure out what “paseadores de perros” was. Though kind of funny that some teams didn’t seem to know “cuatro” meant four dog walkers. Lol I think I kinda wanted teams to walk some dogs instead. TAR5’s dog walking task is still hilarious to think about.

Next, the Detour was fine. Pretty balanced I think since both the tango and the sandwiches are pretty time consuming. The sausages more so, but the tango of course requires a bit more skill and maybe even natural talent to get through.

The football chant was a nice way to incorporate La Boca while also adding another language task. Plus also memorization too.

Overall, it was an alright Leg. But a solid start to what I hope is another truly amazing season from the Aussies.

Team Thoughts

After this first episode, I think they found another good set of celebrity teams. Of course, for my Filipino-American self, most of these celebrities I’ve never heard of. That is except for Ian Thorpe. I mean, who doesn’t know Ian Thorpe. That’s a pretty good casting get.

Then I realized I knew Natalie from her being a mentor on The X Factor on the seasons I actually watched (the ones where Dami Im and Marlisa Punzalan won hehe). So yay! I know two of the celebrities at least!

The rest of the teams are all very distinct and you can really tell them all apart. Some TARs have teams that just blend together. And I don’t think it has anything to do with whether you’re a celebrity or not. If you weren’t told this was a celebrity edition (as a non-Aussie), then you’d just think they were regular, everyday people. And I think that’s a sign of good, diverse casting. (Diversity of personality, to be clear lol Honestly, something TARUS has not really done well enough at.)

So, no favorites for me so far. Other than maybe Ian Thorpe. I’m rooting for him. I’m intrigued by how Cyrell will be moving forward. She’s definitely a reality TV-ready personality. But I feel like she tones it down when it’s time for her to Race. And I think that’s a difference between her and other reality TV alums-turned-Racers.

Chloe & Emily are certainly an early frontrunner. And I agree with Beau that Brooke & Adam could be darkhorses. I was impressed by their Leg.

Too bad about Luke & Julie. But as the Leg went on, I could see that they’d have some trouble even if they survived. Nice mother and son. But probably the time for them to go. Especially with the *cringe* quitting. I mean, I get they couldn’t do the task. But I have such trauma from Network 10 TARAu’s quitting nonsense in the non-celebrity seasons lol So I hope that does not infect this season. *fingerscrossed* lol

Episode Quotes

Adam: “There’s no hassles when you’re wearing tassels.”

Emily: “These are the most wieners I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Pete: “Because [the dogs have] got no respect for what we’re trying to do in The Amazing Race.”

Cyrell: “Babe, the tango in the bedroom is very different to tango in real life.”

Cyrell: “Its Amazing Race, not Amazing Grace. I’m not here to be graceful. I’m here to win.”